Lyell Bussell Winners

Dustin Shepler Furries and Plushies: New Sexuality or Modern Fetish?AbstractIn order to encourage counselors and psychologists to BE MORE aware, educated, and prepared to work with students who identify as “furries,” this presentation defines what a “furry” is, introduces subculture terminology (e.g., “Plushy”), addresses diagnostic considerations, and outlines appropriate therapeutic responses for working with self-identified “furries.” The presentation is balanced between examining the furry subculture from an ethnographic as well as a clinical view of what some call a fetish and others call a normal expression of sexuality.

Dustin Shepler & Levi Laskowski The Revolving Closet Door: Identity Actualization in "Split-Identity" GLB StudentsAbstractThose GLB students who are “out-of-the-closet” on campus and “in-the closet” at home (split-identity students) face unique challenges that differentiate them from both heterosexual and consistently “out” and “in” students. Residence life and counseling center personnel have often been a source of support for such students. There is a dearth of theoretical and empirical literature available to guide interaction with these “split-identity” students. By considering a range of professional literature, recommendations for residence life and counseling professionals are provided.

Dustin Shepler & Levi LaskowskiBecoming Truly Inclusive: Institutional Advocacy for Transgender StudentsAbstractUniversity students who identify as transgender often face challenges that isolate them from the non-transgender student population. Transgender students are forced to struggle with institution policies and facilities that typically recognize only two genders. Student life personnel balance integral roles of recognizing individual student needs as well as assuming responsibility for setting and enforcing university standards and policies that affect all students. By reviewing various institutions’ current policies and empirical findings, recommendations for student life and counseling staff are provided.

Dustin Shepler & Levi Laskowski GLB Students in Greek Organizations and Athletic Teams: Finding Community AbstractThe purpose of this presentation will be to provide university mental health providers with a guide to online resources available for working with students in traditionally gendered groups, such as athletic teams and Greek life. GLB students in these groups may benefit from online social support, or resources, that allow them to foster peer relationships with other GLB individuals who participate in online communities developed specifically for such individuals. This presentation is geared toward student life professionals and mental health providers whose involvement with students in traditionally gendered organizations. Providing such education and resources for professionals who work with student athletes and Greek populations improves professionals’ ability to affirm and support GLB athletes and Greeks.

Aaron BruewerVideo Game Design Principles in Logo Impact Teacher Candidates' Technology IntegrationAbstractA presentation of research conducted in a math technology education course was given at SITE 2011 in Nashville. It provided information on the development of math students TPACK, through an investigation of student’s primary documents for the week spent on Terrapin Logo. The course was guided by a theoretical framework including modeling best practice, reflective writing, and Learning-by-Design. Three themes were identified: Terrapin Logo allowed for the creation of a well-ordered, student-centered learning environment; this environment allowed identity specific and customizable learning to take place; and teacher candidates articulated how technology use might impact student learning in their future classrooms.

Amanda LatzFlow in the Community College Classroom?: An Autoethnographic ExplorationAbstractUpon carrying out this autoethnographic self-study, I discovered that my experiences as a community college instructor were riddled with periods of being in flow. During the spring academic semester of 2010, I created weekly journals of my teaching life. I coded the journals and three themes were generated: preparation rituals, feedback, and solidarity. Student evaluations were used to corroborate the findings. This study highlighted the importance of affect in the college classroom and adds to the existing literature on flow theory, college teaching, and autoethnography.

Laura Wiesner"But I'm Not Like Other Guys": Understanding the Gendered Performances of Undergraduate MenAbstractThis session explored the presenter's study that asked six “average” college men the way they learned to be men, how they enact their masculinity, and when they feel most authentic in their masculine performances. Unique findings included the impact of women (from moms to mates) on masculinity and the reality that even when disassociating from hegemonic values, the “normal” guys still reinforced them. The sharing of narratives of study participants allowed the insights of six “average” guys to inform further questions to help researchers and practitioners understand college men.

Melissa Esh Talk Dirty to Me: Monologue/Dialogue in Popular Internet Pornographic Films AbstractVideo pornography as a “particularly dense semantic site” (Patterson, 2010) involves elements not limited to the director, script, performers, and consumer. Some videos include an interview with the female star of the video. These interviews initially seem to be irrelevant to the purposes of the video, but that they exist in so many videos sparks questions of their purpose. We examined these initial interviews in approximately fifty short films. This exploration revealed patterns in the dialogue, which help better describe the gendered relationships present in these films. However, they further complicate attempts to explain the power relationships in the films.

Phillip KeckScale Development of the Adapted Virtue Inventory of Strengths: An Application of Virtue in RehabilitationAbstractThe current research aims to develop a scale measuring virtues and character strengths of individuals with physical disabilities for use in rehabilitation counseling settings. The scale will be built on the established classification of human strengths (Peterson & Seligman, 2004) and hopes to expand on elements of positive psychotherapy (Seligman, Rashid, & Parks, 2006) in rehabilitation counseling. Existing empirical measures of character strength have been lacking in validation in diverse populations. The development of the current scale, the Adapted Virtue Inventory of Strengths (AVIS), addresses what Dunn and Brody (2008) theorize as increasing well-being in individuals following an acquired physical disability. Those are building meaningful relations with others, cultivating positive traits, and making efforts toward autonomy and management of one’s own life.

Kelly ClougherDating Violence: The Development of a Primary Prevention Program in St. LuciaAbstract Violence is a major problem and concern in St. Lucia, an island in the Caribbean. I, along with my faculty sponsor and three other graduate students, conducted an intervention study during a summer study abroad trip to St. Lucia in May 2010. During the trip, a program called Choose Respect (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2005) was implemented in three St. Lucian middle schools to address interpersonal violence and promote healthy relationships. Pretest and posttest results will be presented, along with future directions and implications for the findings.

Erica HurleyInternationalizing Counseling Psychology: Challenges and Solutions in Three ContextsAbstractOne area of recent growth in counseling psychology has been the internationalization of the field to respond to emerging global needs. Internationalizing counseling psychology is a tremendous makeover for the field, but necessary to provide a high quality standard of care to all individuals seeking help. This symposium addressed challenges faced in internationalizing counseling psychology. The presenters proposed that major systemic obstacles inhibit the internationalization of the profession, stressed that most U.S. based trainees are taught Euro-American theories of development, and highlighted challenges in the development and employment of valid research methodology in international contexts.

Emily Mastroianni and Jenny KlucarichCounseling Psychologists and University Peace Centers: Opportunities, Challenges, and Recommendations for Grant SearchingAbstractThis presentation highlights the similarities in the fields of counseling psychology and peace studies. Each field works toward preventing or eliminating violence and decreasing inequality. Furthermore, both play a role in non-violent advocacy, intervention, and education. Another important aspect that each area shares is the need to continue research and projects that support these goals, which means attaining funding in the form of grants. By learning the skills to effectively grant write and grant search, one can become successful in promoting peace related studies in campus peace centers and for academic research purposes.

Emily MastroianniBitch, Slut, & Whore: The Attempt to Reclaim Derogatory Terms for Women and Why These Terms Remain HarmfulAbstractAttitudes, and in this case sexism, can be linked to language. Many studies have shown correlations between sexist or non-inclusive language and attitudes toward women (Cronin & Jreisat, 1995; Parks & Roberton, 2004). Words like “bitch,” “slut,” and “whore” have traditionally been words used to insult and degrade women (Williams, 2008), but now they are sometimes become terms of endearment. Kleinman, Ezzell, and Frost (2009) examined how the word “bitch” has become increasingly popular among college students to use as an affectionate greeting or as a so called generic (e.g., “That test was a bitch!”) Yet, it has been argued that even using the word “bitch” under these new connotations still reinforces sexism and thus hurts women. The importance of this issue in counseling and suggestions for future research will be explored.

Lamees GalalSymbols of Womanhood: The Impact of Biographical Constructions on Understandings of Female AgencyI am very fortunate to be a recipient of the Lyell L. Bussell Memorial Scholarship! I am so thankful to be part of Teachers College and get these wonderful opportunities to present at conferences. This scholarship allowed me to attend The International Society of Educational Biography conference in San Antonio, Texas. I presented my research paper for my Women, Gender, and Education class taught by Dr. Thalia Mulvihill. My topic was the hijab as a physical representation and symbol for feminist ideologies. I was able to meet instructors from all over the country and received helpful feedback on my research!

Setlhomo Koloi-KeaikiteeDifferential Item Functioning of the SDQIIIAbstractThis paper is focused on issues relating to the use of quality items when working with any form of psychological testing. We analyzed items that are used in the self-concept scale (SDQIII). This scale has been used with many different populations in and outside the U.S. “Overcoming the Methods Effect in Assessing Cognitive Test Anxiety" is a paper to check the quality of items for an instrument that is commonly used to assess cognitive test anxiety on students.